Singaporean Dating Blog

Social Escort Agency Manager Talks About The Industry Stigma

In my interview with Richard a few weeks ago, we talked about what the local Singaporean girlfriend experience is. In this second part of the interview (which was already done a few weeks back but only released now), we will talk about the stigma within this industry.

Me: … There is still a lot of taboo around this topic of social escort services in Singapore, and in particular, a social stigma against social escorts. Why do you think there is so much taboo?

Richard: People like to say what’s popular. Since it’s popular to stigmatize social escorts, the general public does that too, blindly following the blind crowd.

Me: What about the idea that some Singaporeans think that ‘paying for companionship’ is immoral or rather, embarrassing?

Richard: If you’re wanting to debate about the morality or embarrassment of paying for companionship, I have a great way for you to think about this… And that is actually every man pays for companionship. He doesn’t necessarily pays his girl in cash, but in terms of small gifts, cars, houses, overseas vacations e.t.c. Some young men even lavish the girl they like with tons of gifts, and then the girl rejects the guy and leaves for another man. Isn’t that worse? You pay and get nothing in return. What a waste of time and money!

Me: Haha, that’s true. I’m quite sure that some locals in Singapore may feel agitated with that statement, but it’s definitely very true.

Richard: That’s the harsh reality about dating. Men want beauty. Women want wealth, power and stability.

Me: How about the escorts’ side? For example, do you try to help job applicants try to overcome the taboo?

Richard: I don’t think there’s a need to overcome it. People who are interested in wanting to be social escorts for the money are still going to do it regardless of what others think about them. It’s a perfectly legal service to engage and provide, and we’re also a licensed agency and very transparent about our dealings, so there’s absolutely no reason to overcome what outsiders think.

Me: That’s interesting, many people treat this subject as very taboo in culturally conservative Singapore. I understand that you are very open to this, but how about your clients and escorts? Are they more privacy conscious?

Richard: Yes of course. That’s why it’s of utmost importance to treat both the escorts and clients’ identity as top secret. Even though job applicants are comfortable with being a social escort, that doesn’t mean they want their identity publicly displayed.

Me: Of course, so it’s the marketing of the agency that you’re open about, but certainly not the identity of the clients and escorts?

Richard: Definitely.

Me: Ok sure… And what do you think is the one biggest challenge you face in this industry? Does the taboo and insane privacy conscious social escort industry in Singapore create more challenges?

Richard: Definitely. You cannot publish your advertisements in the newspapers like ‘normal’ businesses. Word of mouth marketing doesn’t work either. On top of that, insane amounts of new agencies are opening up and closing within a few months of each other. It’s an extremely competitive industry and the best agency is the one which can get the attention of the client base.

Me: How do you get the customer base from then?

Richard: I will say it’s from a variety of places, mostly online. If you Google for our brand, SG VIP Escorts, you will see it at the top of Google. This generally happens because we are popular with both existing clients and attractive to new clientele base as well.

Me: So it’s not easy money like what many people say?

Richard: It’s easy money if you can get the customer. It’s the world’s hardest business if you can’t get customers. A lot of industry specific challenges make it significantly harder to market.

Me: How much can a typical Singaporean escort make at your agency?

Richard: That’s private numbers, but I will say between $1k to $5k/month working a few hours a week, depending on popularity of the model and timing of the year. If their availability is higher, then it can reach up to low 5 figures / month. If there’s public dates (e.g. engaged by a celebrity for a red carpet event), then earnings will skyrocket. Normal dates at cafes, hotel bars, e.t.c. everywhere else is priced lower.

Me: Oh that’s pretty good numbers considering they only work 1-4 hours a week?

Richard: Yes.

Me: Can you show me some pictures?

Richard: Sure, if you want to engage the models.

Me: Alright, so that’s all for this interview. The pictures are private and the interview has officially ended here. I hope you enjoyed this interview transcript with me and Richard, a social escort agency manager from SG VIP Escrts!